Hi All, This is my first post. Starting to research BFA (maybe BA too) for Acting. I’m just starting to create a starting list for my son in his junior year, so we can learn about various programs and discuss good fits for the family. On the list I want to include schools that are more affordable or a good value (we live in Illinois, outside Chicago). I’m all ears!
Welcome @DoinResearch ! There is a Theater/Drama thread that would probably get you more specific info about acting majors than this MT thread will. Many people visit both, but the other one is more specific to acting than MT.
We have a number of midwestern families/students who could probably give you some great information about what is more affordable in that area. Are you also looking at other areas of the country?
Here’s a prior thread on state schools offering tuition breaks for OOS students, but as @lovetoact advises above, the focus is on BFA MT programs. Of course, MT programs would also have Acting programs, and for some, the MT program might actually be an Acting program with some sort of MT emphasis or certificate.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1892161-list-of-state-schools-offering-in-state-tuition-or-tuition-breaks-for-out-of-state-bfa-students-p1.html
Here’s another list of schools listed by cost of attendance as stated in financial award letters sent to accepted students. Post #338 has the most recent update - March 2015. I don’t think this was revived for 2016.
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/musical-theater-major/1631040-sticker-shock-cost-of-attendance-from-financial-award-letters-p23.html
Look at Ball State. Their acting program was just listed in the top 10 by one poll, and tuition even for out of state students is reasonable.
@DoinResearch - Does your S have excellent academic stats? If so, the number of “affordable” schools could greatly increase due to the possibility for substantial merit-based aid - generally (but not always) better than talent-based awards. Wright State (Ohio) is affordable (definitions of that word vary greatly) even with OOS tuition, but with its generous merit awards, it can be an incredible “bargain”. It has a well-regarded Acting BFA program and the strength of its MT BFA is also its Acting emphasis.
Thanks! Being the newbie that I am, I hadn’t realized I posted in a MT thread! I’ll go in search of specific acting thread, thanks for the tip. We are searching across the country, but I think my son prefers an urban setting, but as I read the posts, I realize that its so competitive, I suspect he’ll have to be more flexible.
@DoinResearch, here’s the acting section so you don’t have to search. 
http://talk.collegeconfidential.com/theater-drama-majors/
See you there!
@mom4bwayboy That’s a good point. Theater Dude’s sophomore year was solid 3.96 GPA, but freshmen year was rough, the cum GPA is 3.43. We haven’t taken SAT/ACT yet, but he is not a good tester, he does well in homework/classwork and doesn’t do well on tests. He’s in Honor Theater 4 this year, and AP English, so that should help, but I should stress the fact that grades and merit based scholarships do matter. He’s all about the audition 
Thak You!
Both Northern Illinois and Western Illinois have excellent BFA programs which are dirt cheap for in-state students.
@DoinResearch definitely try to encourage him to do his best academically. One of my kids attended a BFA Acting program in college with a full tuition scholarship based on academics alone.
@lovetoact Holy Smokes! I didn’t think such a thing was possible!
There are some full-ride merit scholarships out there, too. Mostly at “less selective” schools trying to attract higher stat students. Some of these schools have very fine theater programs
Agree with @mom4bwayboy about opportunities at some schools. My D is studying BA-Theatre at Northern Kentucky and has essentially a free ride due to merit scholarship (room & board not always totally covered, even less so now that she moved into an apartment!).
Aside from NKU (which also has a good BFA program) and WSU mentioned above, there are several schools in OH that are more or less selective academically and/or artistically. They are probably on the lists mentioned before, but look at Cincinnati, Bowling Green, Youngstown State, Ohio U (acting only, no MT). More expensive are Baldwin Wallace, Northern Ohio and Ashland.
@lovetoact and @mom4bwayboy - can you share which schools you know of that offer full rides (or close to full tuition) based on merit or talent?
Quite curious for next kiddo going through this as we didn’t have a full understanding of the finances for the first one. Thx!
The University of the Arts and Illinois Wesleyan are two where that is a possibility. My D received full tuition at both, mostly for merit, but also for talent.
And check out Missouri State, if that hasn’t already been mentioned.
@myloves did your daughter end up at UArts? That’s so awesome they give full rides for merit. I didn’t know that. As much as I tried I couldn’t get my kid to apply there!
@bfahopeful - The ones I know of are all merit-based (especially National Merit, but often had similar for high academic/test stats). The rubrics may have changed a bit since we went through this four years ago, but at that time Wright State offered full ride (I think they may only offer full in-state tuition now, but not sure. A current freshman also got talent on top of that), Alabama, Arizona and Oklahoma (University?? - a state school, not OCU that everyone talks about here). CCM (University of Cincinnati) has the Cincinnatus scholarship. I can’t remember for sure, but I think NKU also offered up to full ride. I’m sure there are are others, but these schools sent us heaps of “enticing” mail and I checked to see that they had decent offerings in the Theater/MT department. We ended up limiting S’s geographic range to MidWest, mostly.
Thx for the info. My D got a very generous merit award for U Arts but nowhere near a full ride and she had high stats and high test scores. She was not a national Merit scholar though so that may have made a difference. She got large awards from most schools but it usually covered half to 75% tuition and we still had room and board which is generally not covered I know. Basically it worked out to about half the COA at most schools (which is still pretty pricey for the privates). I’m not complaining, she was blessed with the offers she got. This is what many of her friends got too.
I was just feeling confused because we don’t know anyone from her PA high school who got a full ride and some of the kids we know have the super high stats. But sounds like they didn’t apply to the schools that offer the full tuition break for that.
So, thank you, again. I will be doing research from a different angle next time around!